The Cursed Door
by PrinRue
Summary: Dipper and Mabel must enter one of the town's cursed doors to help protect the Mystery Shack- only they have no idea of the horror that waits for them inside. One-shot; for Halloween


Foreword: I wrote this for a Halloween writing contest on the Gravity Falls Amino, so it's hopefully a bit on the spookier side... Cutting it close, I know, but I got busy with the holiday and just got the time to post it. Enjoy, and happy Halloween!

Story:  
Dipper looked up at the faded brass numbers by the door, then back at the entry in his journal. _17_.

"Is this it?" Mabel asked from behind him.

"I think so," he answered, taking a deep breath, trying to get the courage to go in.

"Should we do this?" Mabel's voice sounded scared, something she normally didn't exhibit, and it made Dipper even more nervous than he already was.

"Grunkle Ford said the moonstone was in here, so we can't give up now." Dipper tried to sound confident for his sister's sake, but truthfully, he was just as unsure.

"But Dipper, it's door 17. One of the cursed doors!"

"And it might be off its cycle right now."

"But it's connected to the moon, and the full moon- that's tonight! If it's opened... Dipper, we don't know what could be in there."

Dipper turned from the door to look at Mabel. Her eyes were wide, hands clasped in front of her, staring worriedly at him. He couldn't help but see his own emotions reflected back at him. Still, though, he had to try to rationalize for her.

"Mabel, this moonstone, it's the last piece we need to protect the Shack from Bill. We have to do it, whether it's dangerous or not."

She gulped and gave him a slight nod before grabbing his hand and mounting the final step to the door.

Dipper set his hand on the doorknob and gave it a little turn; it wasn't locked, so thankfully they wouldn't be needing Mabel's lock picking skills today. He turned it, but before he could even open it, a giant shadowy claw wrapped around him from within the building. He felt his hand rip from Mabel's, and barely heard her screaming his name before the door slammed shut between them.

* * *

Darkness.

At first, Dipper wasn't even sure if his eyes were open. He looked around, but all he could see was inky blackness surrounding him. Then he remembered.

"Mabel?" He called out. "Are you there?" He waited, only to be answered by silence. It was weird; the blackness seemed to go on endlessly, yet his voice didn't echo. Where had that door- no that _monster_ \- taken him?

He cautiously put a foot forward, unsure if there was even ground beneath him. Luckily, there was. Dipper began walking through the expanse, trying to use his logical mind to figure out how to escape, but he couldn't think in the disorienting darkness. He didn't know if he was walking left, or right, or in circles, but he knew one thing- he was scared. Scared for Mabel. Scared for his safety. Scared- scared of the dark, something he'd never been afraid of before.

Dipper walked for what felt like miles, when he spotted something in the distance. An odd dot, a tiny pinhole of light.

 _Is that the exit? Surely it can't be that easy... Then again, what other option is there?  
_  
Dipper began running towards the light, and as he got closer, it became clear that it was an open door. It was so bright, he couldn't see anything inside except whitewashed shapes. "Mabel?"

"Dipper!" Mabel's voice cried from inside the room.

"Mabel!" Dipper rushed over the threshold to see... his living room?

The overstuffed couch under the stairs, the ugly pink carpet, the family portraits on the walls- it was definitely his Piedmont home.

"What... I- I don't unders-" he began to himself, only to be silenced by a scream from upstairs.

"Dipper!"

"Mabel!" Dipper pushed his confusion aside; he had to figure out where his sister was. He bounded up the stairs to the source of the yelling, his bedroom.

"Dipper! Help me!" Mabel cried when he found her. She was struggling on the floor, her hands bound to his desk behind her, pained eyes pleading to him.

Without hesitation, Dipper grabbed the Swiss army knife his dad got him and began sawing the rope from his twin's hands. "Mabel, are you okay? How'd this happen?"

She said nothing.

"Mabel. Do you know what happened?" Dipper asked again, cutting the final threads binding her to the desk. "M-Mabel?"

"Thank you, Dipper," she said, but it wasn't her voice anymore. "Thank you... for freeing me." She turned around, causing Dipper to drop the knife.

"Or should I say thanks... Pine Tree?" She smiled deviously at him, staring amused with those eyes, those yellow eyes.

"No! No, no, no, no, NO," Dipper stammered as his sister's body melted away and morphed into the triangular demon Dipper had come here to help stop.

The demon laughed, that sick, high-pitched shriek that sent a chill down Dipper's spine. "THANKS FOR THE HELP!" Bill said. "NOW WE CAN FINALLY GET THIS PARTY STARTED, HUH?"

Dipper watched in terror as the house melted away around him, the sky a burning red, all the while hearing that horrible, manic laughter fill his head.

* * *

"Dipper! Dipper! Please, talk to me!"

Dipper shook his head and looked around, only to see an empty, dusty house with sheet covered furniture and boarded up windows... and his sister kneeling in front of him. He jerked away, still jumpy from the vision, only to see her fear-stricken face tighten more. "Mabel... where are we?" His voice came out smaller than he'd meant it to.

"After you opened the door and that, that thing took you, it shut me out. I tried breaking down the door, but it wouldn't open. I just kept hitting it and hitting it and hitting it, then I heard you yelling!" Mabel was crying now. "So I broke one of the windows and that THING, it was strangling you! I tried to pull you out but it wasn't letting go, and you weren't moving... but the light from the window... when it touched it, it screeched and dropped you. I started yelling your name, but you didn't answer me and you were just staring at something, _just staring,_ and-"

Mabel was silenced by Dipper pulling her into a hug. She began crying harder into his shirt. "Dipper... what did you see?" She whispered.

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that it wasn't real. Come on," he said, helping her up, "we need to get out of here."

"But- the moonstone-" she started.

"We can find it somewhere else. Come on." He pulled her to the door.

Before leaving, though, Dipper glanced back one last time, and swore, for just a second, he saw the faint shadow of a triangle on the back wall.


End file.
